Prague Police ask Czech Chamber of Deputies to strip Tomio Okamura of immunity over his racist election campaign ads
Detectives from the Department of Extremism and Terrorism at the Prague Police have requested the Chamber of Deputies strip the chair of the "Freedom and Direct Democracy" (SPD) movement, Tomio Okamura, of his immunity from prosecution as a member of the lower house. They suspect him of committing felony incitement of hatred toward groups of people or incitement to limit the rights and freedoms of their members in relation to last year's billboard campaign during elections to the European Parliament, regional assemblies and the Senate.
The Czech News Agency (ČTK) was informed by police spokesperson Jan Daněk that the request was sent by detectives to the lower house this morning. Such requests to strip lawmakers of their immunity from prosecution are first sent to the secretariat of the president of the lower house and from there to the Committee on Immunity and Mandates.
A spokesperson for the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Markéta Pekarová Adamová (TOP 09), informed ČTK that the request to strip Okamura of immunity from prosecution was received by databox just before 11:30 AM and will be delivered to the relevant committee. The request was first reported by news server Novinky.cz, and the head of prosecutors for Prague 1, Jan Lelek, whose office is supervising the case, confirmed the information.
“The supervising prosecutor told me that he has learned from the police file today that the Capital City of Prague Regional Police Directorate sent a request to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic for the lawmaker to be released for prosecution. It’s related to the poster campaign,” Lelek told Novinky.
Police spokesperson Jan Daněk then confirmed that to the daily DeníkN. “In association with the case of the billboard campaign by the SPD last summer, which we are investigating on suspicion of committing felony incitement to hatred toward a group of persons or incitement to limit the rights and freedoms of members of a group, detectives from the Department of Extremism and Terrorism at the Prague Police have requested the release of lawmaker Tomio Okamura for prosecution. The request was sent to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic on Tuesday, 7 January 2025.“
Tomio Okamura claims the prosecution is tendentious. “To silence me, the prosecutor has tendentiously ordered this indictment even though, according to internal information, the police had no interest in addressing it. This is an example of how far the local Soros globalistic elite is willing to go to protect their lies and their system!” Okamura posted to Facebook.
The SPD and several other parties installed the billboards with their controversial motifs on Wenceslas Square in Prague at the start of September 2024 ahead of elections to the European Parliament, regional assemblies and the Senate. One poster featured a dark-skinned man wielding a bloody knife in a bloody shirt with the message “Deficiencies in health care can’t be solved by importing ‘surgeons’. ‘Stop the EU Migration Pact!’”
Critics of the advertisement called it racist and said it frightened the public unnecessarily. The placement of the billboards was opposed by Prague City Hall, which said the request for the reservation of that public space had been to install the technology needed to film an election advertisement and the authorities had no information about the content of what was being filmed or even which political party was specifically involved.
The SPD has defended itself by claiming to have proceeded completely transparently by acquiring a proper permit from both City Hall and the Municipal Department of Prague 1. Part of the SPD campaign was several versions of these billboards – in addition to the Black immigrant wielding a knife, a poster featuring an AI-generated image of Romani boys smoking cigarettes also sparked criticism.
The ROMEA organization and the Central Bohemian Regional Coordinator for Minorities, Cyril Koky, acting in his personal capacity, as well as other people, filed a criminal report against Okamura, the SPD movement, the PRO party, the Tricolor party and their marketers over the poster with the image of the Romani children. “What the SPD is up to in its election campaign this year is genuinely unprecedented. Through its posters it has decided to foment even more hate and animosity,” Koky told Romea.cz.
According to Štefan Balog, the manager of the ROMEA organization’s scholarship program, the poster with the Romani boys devalues the work of organizations supporting the education of Romani people. “That poster spits in the face of all parents who motivate their children to get educated,” Balog said.
The filing of the crime report was also supported by Marián Dancso, vice-chair of the Czech Government Council for Romani Minority Affairs, who called on the SPD to immediately remove the posters. The SPD campaign was also reviewed by the courts as a civil matter.
Clients of attorney Pavla Krejčí sought to protect the reputation of election campaigns in court in different regions and asked that the poster reading “Deficiencies in health care can’t be solved by importing ‘surgeons’” be banned from use. They also referenced the poster of the Romani boys with cigarettes.
The Regional Courts did not agree with that proposal. The Constitutional Court also did not intervene because it claimed to not have a procedural avenue through which to do so.
The Constitutional Court recommended that the critics of the SPD file suit with the Supreme Administrative Court.
